Trust company, officer are accused in lawsuit

A Las Vegas trust company and its senior trust officer are accused in a lawsuit of embezzling $1.4 million from an account held for the developer of a condominium project in a Mexican coast town.

P. Sterling Kerr, the senior trust officer of Trust Company of the Pacific, disputes the allegations in the April 26 lawsuit, saying he and the company did nothing wrong.

“We certainly deny all the allegations of fact. They’re ridiculous allegations,” Kerr said Wednesday. “Everything I’ve done was legal and done on the basis of consultation with counsel.”

Kerr said the plaintiffs’ attorneys were making serious allegations against him and the Trust Company to force a settlement or get a settlement on favorable terms.

The Nevada Financial Institutions Division, which regulates trust companies, did not respond to a request for comment on the dispute on Wednesday.

Oceanside Developments, a Mexican company, is developing a 48-unit condominium project in Mazatlán, a Mexican city on the Pacific Coast.

Kerr agreed to hold money for the development company in a trust account, according to the lawsuit filed in Clark County District Court by attorney Spencer Judd. The lawsuit claims that Kerr informed Oceanside that he removed $1.4 million from the account without authorization.

Kerr said he was given power of attorney and was authorized to sign on the account. Kerr, who also held a one-sixth interest in Oceanside, said the dispute stems from his partners deciding to pay themselves $2 million in salaries and fees although those payments had not been agreed upon.

Kerr called the matter an “accounting issue.” He said neither he nor Trust Company of the Pacific has been sanctioned by the Financial Institutions Division.